Myron Hunt

In his youth, Myron Hunt moved with his family to Chicago, where he first attended Northwestern University beginning in 1888. He then continued his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology until 1893, graduating in architecture. After a three-year stay in Europe, he took a job as a draftsman in Evanston, Illinois.

Hunt then worked as an architect in Chicago for five years and was there considered a member of the Prairie School. In 1903, he settled in Los Angeles, where he formed a partnership with architect Elmer Grey (1872-1963). They were soon designing large country houses throughout Southern California, including the summer ranch of grain magnate Will Keith Kellogg (1860-1951) in Pomona. Hunt and Grey were also commissioned to design larger projects, including hospitals, schools, and churches including the Throop Institute in Pasadena (later California Institute of Technology) and the campus of Occidental College in Eagle Rock/Los Angeles.

Hunt’s masterpiece is considered the 1915 Bridges Hall of Music at Pomona College. They subsequently worked on several major hotel projects including the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, the Huntington Hotel, and the Vista Hotel, both in Pasadena. Another Pasadena landmark designed by Hunt is the Rose Bowl Stadium, which opened in 1922. After abandoning the partnership with Grey, he formed a new firm with Harold Coulson Chambers (1885-1971) building several libraries, including the Pasadena Central Library. In 1913, he designed a landmark building for the Standard Oil Company in Los Angeles. He later retired to Port Hueneme, where he died in 1952.

Hunt was one of the first American architects to build with almost no reference to older styles. His initial focus was on building country houses. Later he also engaged in interior decoration and garden architecture. He was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1908. His son was the American poet Robert Nichols Montague Hunt (1906-1964).